King Kong

Cultural

One of the most famous of movie monsters, a giant ape who terrorizes New York City and makes his last stand atop the Empire State Building. The story of King Kong was first filmed in the 1930s.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Some films cast the King of the Monsters as a protector unconsciously joining humanity – and occasionally, King Kong – to fend off some mammoth existential evil.

From Salon • Mar. 20, 2026

“You’d have to be King Kong to break this.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 5, 2025

The song features the disco-inspired chorus “Do the King Kong, baby,” with actor Burgess Meredith simulating the historic Hindenburg disaster radio broadcast as he narrates the massive ape-machine’s fiery crash to the ground.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 9, 2025

"It was very clear from King Kong to Frankenstein to Creature from the Black Lagoon that all the monsters were the most emotional. The humans were the ones that scared me," he said.

From BBC • Oct. 24, 2024

I’ve turned into a very quiet King Kong.

From "I'll Give You the Sun" by Jandy Nelson

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023